Awkward Fic 3 in the Welcome Arc
by Dulin
Summary: Cloud has a scratch on his neck, and Marlene wants to know where it comes from. This is the awkward conversation referenced in Tadaima


**Title** : Awkward

**Author** : Dùlin

**Pairings** : Cloud/Vincent, Cid/Vincent, implied Cloud/Tifa

**Fandom** : Final Fantasy VII

**Rating** : PG-13 for some sexual innuendo.

**Warnings** : Between AC and DoC. Fic 3 in the Welcome Home Arc. This is the awkward conversation referenced in 'Tadaima'.

**Disclaimer** : Squeenix owns. I am not Squeenix. You do the math.

"Cloud, did you hurt yourself?"

"Hmm?"

Cloud blinks and looks up from the pile of receipts spread out on the bar in front of him. He usually does the accounting in his office on the second floor, but Tifa's out. And while she trusts Vincent and Cid with the children, she doesn't trust them with her shop. She barely trusts Cloud with it as it is, but at least he knows how to operate the coffee machine and the beer tap if needed, and how much everything costs.

That's why Cloud ends up being the one sitting behind the bar while Cid and Vincent are relegated to the table near the window. As usual, Cid is running his mouth, commenting on everything he sees outside, and Vincent looks like he's lost in his own thoughts and ignoring him. Denzel and Marlene are doing their homework on another table… or at least they were until Marlene's question interrupted Cloud's calculations.

She is standing right next to his stool, staring at his neck and frowning.

"You have a scratch there," she says, and she taps the side of her own neck lightly with the tip of her fingers to show him where.

He almost mirrors her gesture, but stops at the last second. He knows what's there. Vincent has only been back for a few hours, and the small puncture wounds left by the fangs haven't had time to fully heal yet.

"It's nothing. It'll heal up in no time."

"But how did it get there?"

"… You know, I'm not quite sure myself."

Marlene doesn't notice him glancing at the table near the window, where Vincent is still busy ignoring the whole world. But she still scrunches up her nose, the way she always does when she feels something is up but the adults don't want to give her a straight answer.

"Well, you should be more careful!" she says. She has this little frown on her face, the one that makes her look like Tifa.

"I'll do my best," he answers.

And, he thinks, next time he'll wear a turtleneck t-shirt. He never really paid attention about Vincent leaving marks on him. He's probably left a few of his own on Vincent's skin as well, but with what little of that skin can be seen when Vincent's fully clothed, it's no wonder no one ever noticed it.

Cloud shakes his head and turns back to his receipts. He's in the middle of sorting them out chronologically when Marlene speaks up again.

"Uncle Cid! You have one too! Right here!"

Cloud doesn't look up. He takes one deep breath, and then another. Cid will find a way to explain it away. He's always been good with kids. He can probably come up with an explanation that won't be as lackluster as Cloud's own.

"Hmm? Oh, this? That's 'cause Uncle Vincent likes to bite when he plays."

…Or he could just tell it like it is.

"Uncle Vincent? Why did you bite Uncle Cid?"

Cloud is pretty sure he can hear Vincent's thoughts grinding to a halt as he slowly emerges from wherever his mind is wandering and tunes into the conversation. He doesn't even have to look to see the blink, and the way Vincent's eyes suddenly regain their focus on the here and now. It's in times like these that he wishes he could distance himself from everything the way Vincent does. Because he knows exactly what's coming.

"… He asked me to."

The kids like Vincent because he talks to them like he talks to anybody else, without sugarcoating things just because they're younger. Usually, Cloud also likes that bluntness of his, that raw honesty. It's helped him more time than he can count and made him put things into perspective.

Right now, though, he'd rather not have his quite complicated sex life put into perspective in front of his adopted children. Unfortunately, he and Vincent never got around to talking about the whole 'having a relationship thing', so they certainly haven't gotten around to talking about what to tell people who ask about it. And they've never gotten to the point of discussing what to tell the kids if they get curious.

"But Cloud has the same thing! Did you bite Cloud too, Uncle Vincent?"

"Don't be silly," Denzel chides his sister. "If Vincent had bitten Cloud, Cloud would have noticed, right?"

The silence falls again, and Cloud takes in a shaky breath. Hopefully, no one has noticed that his hands have stopped moving and that he's just staring at a receipt while being totally incapable of registering even a single number on it. That's probably wishful thinking given who is in the room, but as long as the topic moves away from… whatever the kids think they're talking about, he's pretty sure he can manage to get out of this with his dignity more or less intact.

"… I'm quite sure he noticed," Vincent says matter-of-factly. "And I think he asked, too."

Cloud can feel the heat in his cheeks, and he knows that by now he's probably bright red. With skin this pale, he can't really hide it. He hates interacting with Tifa's customers, but right now he'd give anything for one of them to come in. That would give him an excuse to turn around and compose himself without being too obvious.

"But Cloud, you said you didn't know how it got there!"

Cloud shuffles some of the receipts around on the bar top. He knows that won't fool either Vincent or Cid, and probably not Marlene either, but he can't look at her. His own voice sounds strange to him when he answers.

"I just… It's not important, is it? I just forgot."

"You _forgot_?" Cid's voice sounds incredulous. "Not quite sure how you can forget _that_. I mean, I tend to find it … memorable, if you know what I mean."

Cloud knows exactly what he means, and if he gets any redder, steam is going to start coming out of his ears pretty soon.

"…I don't get it," Denzel says. "Cloud, did you know about it or not?"

Cloud doesn't have time to think of a proper answer before Marlene cuts in.

"Denzel, when a grown-up tells you they don't know about something, it means they don't want to talk about it. Right, Cloud?"

This time, he does look up, but he can't think of anything to answer to that. He wants to explain, to say that he's not trying to hide things from them, that it's just something private and that they're too young to be having this conversation, but Marlene doesn't look mad at him. If anything, she looks … smug.

"You should just wear something with a higher collar next time, Cloud," she says, and he's too stunned to do anything but nod.

And then the door opens and Tifa comes in, giving him the perfect excuse to go and hide in his office and pretend the last ten minutes didn't happen. Just a few minutes of catching up and he'll be out of here.

He gathers his things as Tifa checks on Cid and Vincent, and on the progress made on the homework while she was gone. When she finally moves to the bar, Cloud gets off the high stool.

"Quiet afternoon?" she asks.

"No one came in," he answers, and makes a pile with his paperwork.

If he'd been looking up, he would have seen her gaze stop on his neck. But he's too busy making sure he's not making eye contact with anyone to notice.

"Cloud, you've got a scratch there," Tifa says, and she taps his neck softly. "What happened?"

Cloud's whole body goes rigid at the question and the touch. He just knows Cid is watching him with that insufferable cocky grin of his and waiting to see how he'll get himself out of that one. If lunging across the room and decking Cid were a viable option right now, he'd take it.

"It's okay, Tifa," Denzel says. "Uncle Vincent bit him, but he asked for it, so it's alright."


End file.
